Sailing Kittiwake

Today we’re catching up with Elena from Sailing Kittiwake. She’s on a pretty awesome adventure and we wanted to hear all about it!

Hi Elena, tell us a bit about yourself?

My name’s Elena, I’m 29 and I’m from Italy. I live on a sailboat, a 26ft catamaran, together with my boyfriend Ryan. I’ve lived in the UK between London, Bournemouth, and Manchester for the past seven years, but now I’m travelling full-time. I’m a freelance content marketing consultant and copywriter, or a “digital nomad”, as they call us.

What’s your adventure of choice?

Wow, that’s one adventurous list! You’re on a pretty cool adventure right now, can you tell us a bit about it?

Last May I quit my job, went freelance and started a voyage on a sailboat with Ryan. We’re sailing from the UK to the Mediterranean while playing outdoors – we’re stopping to go rock climbing, free diving, snorkeling and hiking on the way when we can. We lead a simple, sustainable existence. Leaving everything behind was tough and scary, but three months in we’re absolutely loving this new life.

That’s so exciting! What’s it like living on a boat day to day?

No day is the same – we could be going off on a climbing adventure, go to a city to buy groceries and fuel, or we could be sailing down the coast to get to our next destination. Life on board is heavily dependent on the weather – if it’s sunny and the winds are light, we can easily go to shore and, if we can, swim and free dive from the boat itself. If it’s rainy, we tend to stay in and get a ton of work done. However, when it’s very windy, we have to stay with the boat and sometimes stay up at night to make sure that everything’s safe.

What challenges have you faced trying to adventure while living a fairly normal life?

The weather! Haha. That is the most challenging thing, I think. Back on land we rock climbed quite a bit and found it was hard to find good weather at the weekend in the UK – you need the rock to be dry. Money was never an issue; going on adventures is as cheap as you make it.

What does the future hold?

Well this adventure is going to take quite some time; at least two years. We don’t have plans for the future, so I don’t know what’s next. I think we’re both quite sure we’d like to live near the sea, possibly where there’s good sea cliffs to climb.

Advice for average joes looking for adventure?

Adventure is right on your doorstep. Just get outside and try something new. It doesn’t have to be complicated, dangerous, or grand. Climb up a hill near you, jump on a train to somewhere you’ve never been, book a last minute place ticket to a weird place, try out a new sport – there’s infinite ways to get your dose of adventure.

If you’re afraid of doing something, ease yourself into it and take small steps towards it – it won’t feel as scary. It took us a year to prepare for this big adventure and there were fears we had to overcome, like storms and seasickness. The only way to beat these is to prepare.

Words to live by?

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Jacques Yves Cousteau

Thanks Elena! if you would like to find out more about Elena;s adventures, you can check out their blog or social media sites, links for which you will find below.

If you have a story that can inspire others to go out and do something they may not have the courage to do, we’d love to hear from you!